Councilman says city ‘not equipped’ for safer streets

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

“Completely miffed.”

That is 1st District City

Councilman Andreas Addison’s reaction to City Hall’s efforts to reduce speed and the likelihood of more fatal accidents in the wake of highly publicized traffic deaths of two Virginia Commonwealth University students since January.

In a statement to the Free Press, Mr. Addison graded the Department of Public Works’ recent addition of a few speed bumps on Main and Cary streets as “unacceptable.”

In his view, radical solutions are needed to slow traffic and reduce the risks to pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists, including restoring two-way traffic on both streets rather than keeping one-way.

“(Our city) is not equipped or staffed to create safer streets,” he stated, adding that the muted response from city officials, “confirms every reason why the council approved my request for a Department of Transportation last year.”

He noted that the administration largely ignored a council vote, along with his proposal to have the city hire Bloomberg Associates, a consulting firm that he stated had helped Oakland, Detroit and Atlanta create their local departments of transportation.

“That idea went nowhere,” he stated.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration did not respond to a Free Press request for comment on the statement from Mr. Addison, chair of council’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation lowing two deaths, particularly that of well-known graduate student Shawn Soares, 26, a staff member with the Virginia Conservation Network. He was heading toward the campus on May 4 when a turning car was struck by oncoming traffic and shoved into the sidewalk at Main and Madison streets where Mr. Soares was walking.

That followed the Jan. 27 death of Mahrokh Khan, 23, who was fatally injured after being struck by a car while crossing Laurel and Main streets on the VCU campus.

VCU President Michael Rao, like Mr. Addison believes “a major change is needed” to streets and sidewalks to reduce the risk to students from traffic coming through the campus. He said VCU has hired a consultant to recommend improvements.

Despite the criticism, the Public Works Traffic Engineering Division has stated that it is seeking to “provide as many options as possible to ensure the safe passage of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicular drivers throughout Richmond.” and Latino students. The struggle to get families to ensure their children are in class daily continues even as the school system spends more to educate fewer students.

Since 2019, Richmond’s contribution for public education, including the share of local sales tax that RPS receives, has jumped 38% to $253 million, while enrollment has fallen 14% in the same period.

On Sept. 30, Richmond schools reported enrolling 21,709 students in Pre-K through 12th grade, down 3,506 students from the 25,212 students reported as enrolled on Sept. 30, 2019. That’s enough students to fill five elementary schools or at least